Du Barry is a woman of average height with a slender figure. She has blond hair and bluish-green eyes. She can often be seen with a look of anger or a scheming smirk when she is attempting something. Since becoming the mistress of the late king, Du Barry would wear fine clothing and jewelry that only became more extravagant when she would attempt to outshine Marie Antoinette.
Personality[]
Du Barry is shown to be a highly manipulative and scheming woman. As she came from a poor background, she relished living in the attention, luxury, and wealth that King Louis XV showered upon her. She is shown to have no problem using his affections for her to her advantage and tells lies in order to make herself seem more sympathetic. Du Barry is also shown to be a very proud and envious woman as she would attempt to outshine Marie Antoinette when the princess began receiving more attention than her for her looks, kinder nature, and royal birth.
Background[]
Du Barry was born as a commoner into a poor family and became orphaned at the age of five years old. She eventually became a prostitute in order to survive and was later able to blackmail one of her wealthier customers who gave her a large sum of money. She eventually caught the attention of Count du Barry and successfully married him, becoming Countess du Barry. However, she is said to have quickly poisoned her new husband and used her new resources to enter Versailles where she became the mistress of King Louis XV.
Plot[]
When Marie Antoinette becomes princess of France, Madam Du Barry instantly saw how much attention the princess was receiving for her elegance, beauty, and royal lineage. When the princess tried to be alone but was followed by the king's daughters, Du Barry's history is revealed to the new princess. Marie Antoinette was disgusted and decided she would ignore Madame du Barry as she does not want people to think it's acceptable to let woman such as Du Barry into Versailles and be acknowledged by someone of higher status.
Maria Theresa Of Austria, queen of Austria and mother of Marie Antoinette, worries that her daughter rejecting Madame du Barry might cause problems for her in Versailles but understands why her daughter does this as she herself would whip such women and throw them into institutions and even she finds Madame du Barry horrible. Not wanting a war to happen between France and Austria, she sends her advisor, Count Mercy, to France. Mercy advises the princess to make peace with Du Barry, but Marie Antoinette does not obey the warnings as she wants to make it clear that women like Madame du Barry cannot be allowed in Versailles until King Louis XV shows his displeasure with her attitude towards the countess. Marie Antoinette finally speaks to Du Barry. Months later, King Louis XV gets smallpox. Before dying, the bishop, hearing Louis's confession, and orders the removal of the King's sin, which is none other than Madame Du Barry. King Louis XV dies and Du Barry is forcibly removed from Versailles and taken to a convent, where she remains until 1793, the year in which she is guillotined for her crimes in murdering her late husband and her other crimes in Versailles that Louis XV let her get away with.
Despite her cruel tactics and spiteful nature, she shows her soft side to Oscar as she helps her leave Versailles as she told her the story of her hard childhood. She tells Oscar that everything she did was to survive and be able to have a good life since France is in utter dismay. Madame du Barry's experience is what made Oscar begin to realize how corrupt nobility and the clergy were.
Relationships[]
Count du Barry: Madame du Barry's late husband. Since she was married to him for a very short time, it can be assumed that she did not hold any true feelings for him and only used him in order to gain wealth and power. She was stated by the king's daughters to have poisoned him in order to further her own greed and goals.
King Louis XV: Madame du Barry had managed to become the mistress of the king when she had entered Versailles. She is shown to be able to easily manipulate the king in order to obtain anything she desires and has not hesitated to lie to him in order to make herself appear like a victim and/or turn him against others.
Marie Antoinette: Du Barry is shown to have a highly tense rivalry with the princess when she arrived at Versailles after marrying Louis XVI. As Marie Antoinette was of a higher status than herself, Du Barry became incredibly envious of the attention that shifted from herself to the princess and began doing everything she could to become the favorite of the court once more. When King Louis XV was dying from smallpox, Du Barry attempted to make amends with the princess in order to keep her position safe, but this would ultimately fail.
Quotes[]
Trivia[]
In real life, Du Barry's husband lived for some time after their marriage and had been the one to try to get his wife acknowledged at court. It took three attempts to get her presented to the court after she obtained a sponsor.
